Thursday, June 16, 2016

Abuses Of Iraq’s Hashd In Fallujah Operation

One of the major worries when the offensive to retake
Fallujah began in the middle of May 2016 was how the Shiite elements of the
Hashd al-Shaabi would act. In previous campaigns in Salahaddin
and Diyala
they had been accused of abusing and killing civilians, destroying property, clearing
out populations and not allowing them to return, and carrying out revengeattacks
after bombings. Quickly after the attack started stories began to emerge of bad
behavior including destroying property, beatings, torture, and killings.
Eventually the stories grew in number that the Anbar government issued a report
claiming murders, disappearances, and looting at the hands of the Hashd. Given
the history of some of the groups involved this was likely inevitable. The
question now is whether Baghdad will hold anyone accountable for these actions.

In the middle of June 2016 the Anbar government released
its initial findings on the actions of the Hashd. It found that 49 people that
were detained by the Hashd while trying to flee the Islamic State were killed,
and that number was likely to increase. The Hashd took another 643 displaced
people and their fate was unknown. People that were detained by the Hashd and then
released reported beatings, torture, and all their belongings including cars,
money and jewelry being taken. Some displaced claimed there were foreigners
with the Hashd likely meaning Iranians who have deployed with the Hashd in previous
operations and act as advisers. Finally, it noted that the Federal Police were
able to intervene and save some civilians from the Hashd. These events all took
place from June 3-5. This report came about because of the increasing stories
coming from civilians, the press and human rights groups.

The Fallujah operation began with clearing the surrounding
towns, and that was where the first issues emerged about the Hashd. One of
those towns was Garma to the northeast of Fallujah. At the start of June stories
began emerging of civilians disappearing,
property being destroyed
along with robbing and looting, beatings,
and kidnappings. Sotaliraq
published one piece stating that the bodies of 40 displaced from Garma and
Fallujah were found in Amiriya Fallujah killed by the Hashd. That led the Anbar
council to announce that it would form a committee to look into these events.
That investigation was what probably led to the governor’s press release.

As the campaign progressed there was more press reports
about the conduct of the Hashd. The Telegraph
for example said that 600 displaced had been picked up by the Hashd and taken
to the Mazraa army base. When they were released they showed signs of torture.
Four dead bodies were also handed over to the authorities out of that group.
That same day a member of the Anbar council called
on Prime Minister Hadiar Abadi to hold the Hashd responsible citing stories of
abuse coming out of Saqlawiya another town surrounding Fallujah. The head of
the council added
that he wanted the prime minister to withdraw the Hashd from the Fallujah area
because of their misconduct. The BBC added to the
story by saying it viewed a video of a person claiming that the Hashd had beat
him and accused him of being part of the Islamic State. The Daily
Beast also ran a piece of people from Saqlawiya and Garma being tortured
and killed by the Hashd. It quoted the mayor of Fallujah who said that the
Hashd had suffered heavy losses in the fighting and were taking out their
frustration on civilians. An Islamic Party member from Fallujah also accused
Badr elements within the Federal Police of working with the Hashd in these
crimes. Members of the main Sunni coalition in parliament blamed Kataib
Hezbollah for the disappearance of another 600 odd people. These types of
articles continued to come out as the campaign went on.

Finally, the United Nations and human rights organizations confirmed
these stories. The U.N. issued a release
on June 7 telling Baghdad it had to protect people fleeing from IS in Fallujah
citing the abuse and execution of civilians. Amnesty
International talked with some of the 600 people who had been picked up the
Hashd and released, many of which said
that the Hashd had beaten and mistreated them. It also received stories that 17
people from Garma were killed. Human
Rights Watch interviewed those same civilians and found similar accounts.
For instance, an Anbar official provided the names of the 17 executed. Some of
the 600 displaced who were detained and then released blamed Badr and Kataib
Hezbollah for their mistreatment. It also found stories of the Federal Police,
Badr and Kataib Hezbollah shooting civilians trying to flee to government areas
in Sjar north of Fallujah, and more cases of people being picked up whose fate
was not known. Together these groups found that several Hashd groups working
with the Federal Police were committing human rights violations.

The federal government responded by saying that it would
look into these matters and even announced some arrests, but also tried to play
down the occurrences. Abadi was the first to make a comment saying that Baghdad
would create a committee to look into what was happening. Defense Minister Khalid
Obeidi then said
that 4 ISF members had been arrested after they were shown in a video abusing
some of the displaced. At the same time President Fuad
Masum and Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari claimed that any violations
going on were done by individuals and did not represent the Hashd, something
that leaders of the movement such as Badr’s Hadi Ameri and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s
Qais Khazali repeated.

Given the record of some elements of the Hashd since the war
against the Islamic State began it should have been no surprise that they were
carrying out similar human rights violations in the Fallujah campaign. The
question now is whether they will finally be held accountable. Given Iraq’s
political situation that is very unlikely. Government officials go largely
unpunished for any crimes, and the Hashd groups accused of these abuses, while
nominally under the prime minister’s command have not only been openly critical
of Abadi, but defied him as well. While one or two elements might be
sacrificial lambs to placate the public outcry, it is highly unlikely that anything
else will be done. Add to that the fact that the government lacks the forces to
launch these large operations on its own without the Hashd, and that they tend
to follow their own lead means these types of incidents will only continue as
the Islamic State is expelled from Iraq.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the politics, economics, security, culture and history of Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com